1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates, in general, to an apparatus for allowing a trailer chassis or the like to be lifted, rotated and handled.
2. Description of the Related Art
A preliminary patentability search conducted in class 414, subclasses 620 and 678 produced the following patents which may be relevant to the present invention: Dunham, U.S. Pat. No. 2,971,662, issued Feb. 14, 1961; Vik, U.S. Pat. No. 3,506,148, issued Apr. 14, 1970; Perrott, U.S. Pat. No. 4,437,807, issued Mar. 20, 1984; Riley, U.S. Pat. No. 4,583,902, issued Apr. 22, 1986; Matthewson et al., U.S. Pat. No. 4,600,350, issued Jul. 15, 1986; Coe, U.S. Pat. No. 4,664,576, issued May 12, 1987; and Macmillan, U.S. Pat. No. 4,952,118, issued Aug. 28, 1990.
The Dunham and Vik patents disclose attachments for industrial lift trucks and the like which allow open-top boxes or drums, such as fruit boxes and scrap metal drums, to be picked up, transported to a selected location, and rotated to dump their contents. The Vik dumper is designed so that gravity will cause a filled drum to rotate to dump its contents, and includes a latch mechanism to lock the drum in an upright position until released and a spring to return an empty drum back to the upright position.
The Perrott, Riley, Matthewson et al., Coe and Macmillan patents relate generally to apparatuses and methods for lifting, transporting and storing wheeled container trailer chassis after removal of a detachable cargo container, etc.
Perrott discloses an attachment for a lift truck which allows a trailer chassis to be gripped by a clamping mechanism, raised above the ground and pivoted about a transverse axis from its normal horizontal position to a vertical position for transport to a multiple storage unit.
Riley discloses an attachment for the three point lift suspension of a tractor or the elevating mechanism of a lift truck which allows a trailer chassis to be gripped by a clamping mechanism, elevated above the ground and pivoted about a transverse axis from its normal horizontal position to a vertical position for transport to a multiple storage unit where it is deposited and retained in the vertical position.
Matthewson et al. discloses an attachment for a lift truck which allows a container trailer chassis to be gripped by a clamping means, lifted, and rotated around a transverse axis about 90 degrees to a substantially upright position or, alternatively, 180 degrees to an upside-down position.
Coe discloses an apparatus for being attached to the front end of a fork lift truck or the like which allows a trailer chassis to be gripped, elevated, and rotated around its longitudinal axis. The Coe apparatus use two large hydraulic clamps to grip the side members (I-beams) of the trailer chassis frame, gripping both I-beams in a normally vertical plane (parallel to the web of the I-beams).
Macmillan discloses an apparatus for being attached to an overhead crane, forklift truck, or the like which allows a trailer chassis to be gripped, elevated, and transported to a storage rack for storage in a stacked, right-side up, horizontal arrangement.
None of the above patents disclose or suggest the present invention. More specifically, none of the above patents disclose or suggest a rotator including a base frame for being attached to a lift mechanism; a rotating frame; a first latch member attached to the rotating frame; a second latch member attached to the rotating frame a spaced distance from the first latch member for coacting with the first latch member to securely attach a trailer chassis to the rotating frame; and axle means rotatably attaching the rotating frame and the base frame to one another for allowing the rotating frame to rotate between a first position and a second position to rotate the trailer chassis between an upright position and an inverted position about an axis parallel to the longitudinal axis of the trailer chassis.